Caerphilly Comic Con raises £2,500 for autism charity

A comic con event held at St Cenydd leisure centre on Saturday, June 15 has raised £2,500 for an autism charity.

Around 1,300 people turned up for what was the third comic con event held in Caerphilly.

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The event, which saw a fan-made replica of the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones come to Caerphilly, was held to raise money for The Autism Directory.

Comic con organiser Vik Yadh said: “We had way more than last year when we had 1,000 people come along.

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“We were surprised by how busy we were. We had four rooms – the main hall, a cosplay and gaming room, we had a steampunk festival upstairs, as well as a cafe run by Tyfu cafe in Caerphilly town centre.

“We also had a quiet room for people on the autism spectrum to wind down.

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Overall, I’m really impressed by the figures. We had young families, there and our gaming section was popular from start to finish.”

The fan-made ‘Iron Throne’

Mr Yadh added: “We normally raise money for local children’s charities and we wanted to raise more awareness of autism to stop autistic children being picked on at schools.”

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As part of Comic Con, a number of schools across Caerphilly County Borough held non-uniform days, with pupils dressing up as their favourite superheroes.

Pupils also took part in two special Welsh-language art competitions, which were be judged by Welsh language initiative Menter Caerffili.

“We’re already starting to plan for next year.

“We’re looking to engage with more schools and make it even bigger and stronger.

“It’s great to bring all these weird and wonderful things to Caerphilly – we only ever seem to see this stuff in bigger cities.

“We’re looking to do more crazy things next year and want to get at least 1,500 people turn up.”

Caerphilly AM Hefin David officially opened the event and said: “The Caerphilly Comic Con helps bring people together to raise vital funds for local charities.

“The Autism Directory is a charity particularly close to my heart, so I was particularly honoured to open the event this year.

“Many young people dressed up as their favourite superhero and had a great time on the day.

“The work and commitment that goes into arranging the Caerphilly Comic Con shouldn’t be underestimated, and I’d like to thank Vik and all the volunteers for the hours they put in to make the event a success.”